1. Language information / Données sur les langues

1.1 Languages spoken / Langues parlées

a) Official / Officielle(s) :

Apparently none, at least as far as being named in the constitution. English is mentioned in some legal texts as official (L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde). There is some discussion now of giving Swahili an official status (article in East African Standard). Swahili and English are languages of government (L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde).

b) National, indigenous / Nationale(s), indigène(s) :

Swahili is mentioned in some legal texts as the national language (L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde).

The Kikuyu, Meru, Gusii, Embu, Akamba, Luyha (or alternate spelling of Luyia), Swahili and Mijikenka (which in fact is a group of different ethnic groups) constitute the majority of the Bantu speaking peoples of Kenya. (Webbook)

There is a Swahili-English slang called "Sheng" which is popular especially among the young in uban areas.

c) Other / Autre :

"There have been significant changes in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector in Kenya over the last ten years, despite the lack of a legislative framework to guide it. While it is difficult to capture all the developments in detail, the formation of the multi-stakeholder Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) has been a remarkable achievement. Through the network, an inclusive policy process has been catalysed, resulting in the country’s first draft ICT policy document, approved by cabinet in February 2006." (Munyua and Mureithi in GISW 2007)

"The Kenya Communications Act No. 2 of 1998 unbundled the Kenya Postal and Telecommunications Corporation (KPTC) into five separate entities: the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), which is the regulator; the National Communications Secretariat (NCS), which serves as the policy advisory arm of the government on all matters pertaining to the information and communications sector; the fixed-line operator, Telkom; the Postal Corporation of Kenya (POSTA); and a Communications Appeals Tribunal." (Munyua and Mureithi in GISW 2007)